“For twenty-two mornings. Because I asked her to stop.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds like being told not to do something made her more committed to doing it.”
“Yes,” he said. “That’s accurate.”
I thought about this for a moment.
“Why?”
Paul hesitated. He looked at the ground briefly, then at me.
“Her father,” he said. “He was a difficult man. Controlled everything in their house. Denise learned very early that if someone tells you what to do, giving in means losing. Means they have power over you.”
Ezoic
I absorbed this.
“I’m genuinely sorry she had that childhood,” I said.
“But?” he said.
“But Oliver is six years old. He sat in that car every morning wondering if he’d done something wrong because his name was on the late register. He is not responsible for what Denise’s father was like.”
Paul’s shoulders dropped. “No.”
